St. Kate's vs Bethel 2-18-17

After leaving Hamline's Hutton Arena, I headed north on Snelling Avenue in the direction of Bethel University for their 3:00 P.M. game against visiting St. Kate's.  I got settled into Robertson Center in the waning moments of the first period with Bethel up 15-10.

I had a feeling that this would be a good game from the get-go as both teams had wrapped up playoff spots (Bethel locked into the third slot and St. Kate's seemingly fitting into the fifth spot) and the crowd on hand at Robertson Center on this beautiful Saturday mid-afternoon day would not be disappointed.  Sophomore post Hannah Johnson's two free throws with just :02 left in the opening period got the Bethel lead to 17-10 and, after a momentary lapse by both squads in the opening moments of the second period, freshman phenom forward Taite Anderson extended the Royals lead to 19-10 with her lay-up at the 7:25 mark.  St. Kate's would close to five points on a lay-up by freshman reserve guard Jackie Radford at the 7:10 mark and two free throws by junior guard Meg Clark at the 6:30 mark.  A lay-up by twin sister junior guard Audra Clark at the 6:05 mark and a lay-up in transition by senior forward Mari Lee at the 5:40 mark got the Wildcats back within a single possession trailing 21-18 and a Radford jumper along the left baseline with 4:56 left reduced the deficit to a solitary point at 21-20.  Bethel awoke from its mid-afternoon slumber to embark on a 6-0 push.  Anderson got into the paint for a score with 4:36 left and junior guard Angie Kirchoff connected with a jumper from the right elbow area with 4:09 left for a 25-20 Royal advantage. Freshman reserve guard and former Maple Grove standout Haylee Barker completed this push with a short, one-handed jumper in the lane with 3:10 left that gave Bethel more breathing space with a 27-20 lead.  But the 'Cats struck right back with a 7-0 run.  Sophomore reserve guard newcomer Kanani Asuncion connected with a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and the former Rochester Century standout's obligatory free throw with 2:51 left trimmed the deficit to four points at 27-23.  Then it was senior guard/forward Alexis Garcia getting a lay-up with 2:18 left that drew St. Kate's closer trailing 27-25.  A pretty reverse lay-up by Radford with 1:48 left knotted the issue at 27 a piece with 1:48 left and each time Bethel tried to pull ahead, the Wildcats would seem to have an answer.  Royal junior reserve sharp-shooting guard Jasmin Bretoi connected with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass for a 29-27 Bethel lead but that was matched by the 'Cats as senior forward Kennedy Jennings got into the paint for a score with :56 left.  The Royals would retake the lead on a jumper from the right wing by junior spark plug guard Abby Miller with :41 left but St. Kate's would respond on its ensuing possession as Audra Clark connected with a lay-up with :21 left to tie things up at 31-all.  Finally, senior guard Shanni Moorse gave the Royals a 33-31 lead to take into the locker room at the half with two free throws with just :02.6 before the halftime buzzer.  A quick check of the first half box score shows how even things were so far.  Neither team shot that well from FG range (St. Kate's going 14-34 for 41.2% and Bethel going 13-28 for 46.4%) and both teams shot an identical 75% from the charity stripe.  The big surprise, IMHO, was the Wildcats holding a 20-17 edge on the glass in the first half which is normally Bethel's calling card.  Both teams were guilty of seven turnovers in the first half as well.  Considering how the Royals had rolled to an easy 86-57 win at St. Kate's a mere month ago, Wildcat Head Coach Sean Pinkerton and his staff had to be encouraged by what they were seeing so far from their team.

Bethel sought to establish some more separation in the opening moments of the third period as a score in the paint by the ever-improving Johnson at the 9:50 mark and a "3" from the left corner by the seemingly always-reliable Kirchoff at the 9:13 mark re-established that seven-point edge that the Royals enjoyed in the second period.  But St. Kate's would manage to climb back to within a single possession twice.  One Jennings freebie at the 8:53 mark and a drive into the lane in transition and finish by Audra Clark at the 8:18 mark cut the Royal lead to four at 38-34.  An Audra Clark jumper from near the free throw line at the 7:52 mark cut the deficit to two at 38-36 and a Jennings jumper from that same area at the 7:05 mark kept the 'Cats in that two-point range trailing 40-38.  Bethel would grow the lead back to six points as the versatile Anderson went coast-to-coast for a lay-up at the 5:40 mark and Johnson maneuvered her slender 6'1" frame into the paint for a score at the 5:03 mark for a 44-38 Royal advantage.  A Johnson lay-up with 4:22 left maintained that six-point edge at 46-40 before both teams went into a bit of a drought over the next three minutes.  St. Kate's would finally have a couple of answers late in the third period to get back to that two-point range.  Radford snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:12 left and then a score in the paint by flashy senior reserve guard LaShay Holt with :36 left cut the Royals lead down to 46-44 and left a lot of unanswered questions heading into the fourth and final period.

Bethel looked as if it was in position to take firm control of things in the opening minutes of the fourth period with a 7-1 push.  Johnson got into the paint for another score at the 9:47 mark and two free throws by Kirchoff at the 8:06 mark had the Royals up 50-45.  Then it was Abby Miller; the former Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted standout, delivering a back-breaking "3" from the left corner at the 7:35 mark for an eight-point 53-45 Bethel advantage.  The Wildcats would manage to cut the deficit to four points on two free throws by Radford at the 6:32 mark and a drive and finish in transition by Holt at the 6:01 mark that made it a 53-49 game but when the Royals' Moorse connected with a lay-up at the 5:28 mark to make it 55-49, it really looked as if St. Kate's would be hard-pressed to prevent the Royal steamroller from coasting home for the victory.  So imagine how shell-shocked the partisan Bethel crowd (and your's truly) was when the 'Cats embarked on an unlikely 6-0 push that leveled this contest at 55 a piece.  The wily Holt first connected on a drive and finish in transition with 4:33 left and a short jumper in the lane by freshman reserve guard Danica Cambrice with 3:23 left trimmed the Royal lead down to a scant two points at 55-53.  Radford would get sent to the charity stripe with 1:20 left and although she couldn't knock down either free throw attempt, St. Kate's still hung tough.  On the ensuing Royal possession, Abby Miller went for a killer three-point attempt but was unable to knock it down and the 'Cats Lee was there for the defensive rebound and was subsequently fouled with :51.1 left and the former Dawson-Boyd product knocked down both free throw attempts that suddenly tied this game at 55-all.  Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrecthsmeyer called a timeout to set up strategy on the ensuing Royal possession and Anderson delivered with a big time finish in the paint with :42 left for a 57-55 Bethel lead.  The Wildcats brought the ball downcourt and Pinkerton called a timeout with :22 left to try and set up a response.  But this is where things got a bit dicey for St. Kate's as, on the ensuing inbounds attempt, the Wildcats were nearly hit not once but TWICE on five-second calls and Pinkerton had to take a match to two more timeouts to avoid total disaster.  Finally, St. Kate's was able to execute the inbounds pass and, with :16 left, Radford got a look from behind the arc from the right wing area and launched an attempt.  This shot banged off the back of the rim and into the waiting arms of Bethel's Moorse who quickly got the ball to the Royals best ballhandler in Abby Miller.  She was fouled with :11.4 left and dropped two pressure free throws that now made it a two-possession game at 59-55.  The Wildcats got the ball to Audra Clark on their ensuing possession and she attempted a lay-up that missed its mark.  Abby Miller would be fouled again shortly thereafter and sank two more insurance free throws with :05.4 left to clinch a hard-fought 61-55 win for Bethel as they completed a fabulous regular season with a 21-4 record.

A relieved Herbrechtsmeyer said afterward "We needed that....We really did"; referring to the hard-fought victory that was the Royals' first true test since the heartbreaker to GAC back in early January. "They're a good team....a playoff team" Herbrechtsmeyer said referring to St. Kate's and thinks that the challenge presented today will only help his squad as they now prepare for the MIAC Playoffs which begins on Wednesday (2-22) with a quarterfinal home date with Augsburg.  The Royals still have obvious NCAA Tournament hopes and there's no doubt in my mind that Bethel ABSOLUTELY belongs in the field of 64 teams.  Herbrechtsmeyer knows all about the obstacles in his squad's way; noting how incredibly strong the West Region truly is and how the computer rankings aren't doing his program any favors right now.  So even if the Royals notch a quarterfinal victory over Augsburg and then, say, lose a tough one at GAC two nights later, "It's probably 20-80 or 30-70 that we get in."  I hope that that's not the scenario they wind up facing with 22 wins.  It would be a complete and utter travesty if that happens.  Despite the loss, St. Kate's Pinkerton was upbeat afterward, noting that his team - for the most part anyway - played much better on this afternoon than they did on Wednesday night against GAC and he feels confident that his team will be ready for a showdown with CSB up in St. Joe on Wednesday night.  The Royals had a very balanced scoring attack on this day with four players in double-figures scoring-wise.  A monster afternoon for Johnson with a "double-double" of 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way while Anderson collected 12 points and nine rebounds and Kirchoff and Abby Miller contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.  St. Kate's had three scorers in double-figures and surprisingly it was Radford's 12 points that led the way for the 'Cats on this afternoon while Jennings contributed 11 points and Audra Clark chipped in with 10 points.  One stat that likely had to irritate Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff on Saturday evening was that St. Kate's held a 40-36 edge on the boards in this contest and it's a rare deal when the Royals get outrebounded.  But Pinkerton had to feel a similar irritation in seeing that his squad shot only 9-14 from the charity stripe for the game for 64.3% and that's one area where the Wildcats have to improve on for Wednesday night.  Another bothersome stat for Pinkerton and his staff:  A team that is normally deadly from behind the arc went 0-11 from downtown on this day and that's something that will keep any coach (or player for that matter) awake at night.